Amazon Snubs Canada With International Kindle Launch
Amazon’s wireless reading device that is known as the Kindle went global today. The product page was updated this morning to reflect this. But if you’re Canadian, you can’t get one says The Globe and Mail:
But Canadians will have to wait a little longer for the popular device to come to this country. An attempt to order a Kindle on Amazon.com’s website was rebuffed with the message: “Unfortunately, we are currently unable to ship Kindles or offer Kindle content in Canada. We are working to make Kindle available to our Canadian customers as soon as possible.”
An e-mail from Amazon.com public relations confirms the device is not coming to Canada, but offers no reason why.
Gee. I guess Amazon doesn’t like Canadians.
I wonder what the hold up is? Is it the provider for their 3G service? Is it licensing issues for the e-books? Amazon could save themselves a potential PR nightmare by explaining what the deal is.
So how about it Amazon? How about showing us Canadians some love, or at least explaining the delay.
October 7, 2009 at 12:44 pm
It is very possible that it’s Canada’s publishing industry that is holding back the publishing rights to ebooks. There is also the possibility that wireless network access is an issue. Since the new international version of the Kindle uses GSM, Rogers may not want to sell wholesale access to it’s network to Amazon.
December 13, 2009 at 9:21 pm
First off…wow!
I am astounded at how amazing the Amazon Kindle 2 is. The Kindle 2 has brought reading to the 21st century. Reading is something that I absolutely love, but I find it hard to wait several days for a book to be shipped to me or pay the outrageous prices at a bookstore. Once I have the book, especially if it is a large one, there is the issue of toting it around from place to place. If I’m reading several books at once carrying them around is pain…well, in comes the Kindle and it has solved all these problems. If I hear of a book that is interesting, I can download a sample, if I like it I can have the book at my fingertips in 60 seconds. I am looking forward to build my library in my kindle. I will have access to hundreds of books at once. Another plus is that I can read the newspaper again, not having to worry about running to the newsstand or paying a bill.
The Kindle is easy to carry around, I take it with me everywhere, hoping to sneak in a few pages of my current read or the daily paper. It has taken reading, something I love and made it 100 times more convenient and accessible.
The features of the Kindle are great. I can highlight, bookmark, and annotate just as I would in a regular book, if I want to know the meaning of a word, it is there. There are many other features I have not even began to explore and I am already satisfied with my investment. I have even accidently dropped my kindle a few times and not a scratch on it (the cover helps and is a worthwhile investment).
I was not a Kindle 1 user and am completely new to the concept of an ebook reader. I absolutely love it. The Amazon Kindle is an amazing device and I would recommend it to anyone who loves books.
A few things that would make the amazing device even better:
*A built in reading light or some type of illumination gadget
*Making the on/off switch a little more sensitive
*A library program
*Sending used books to Amazon for credit to buy Kindle books.
January 18, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Between myself and my brother we’ve owned more gizmos over the years than I care to count, including GPS units, iPods (classic & touch), etc. I love Amazon’s kindel, it’s by far the coolest toy I got. Why? Because I was very happy to discover just how well-designed and fun it was and how simple it was to use . Make sure you get the pouch though as it gets scratched pretty quickly.